End of the Line
by MiracleLeaf
Summary: Trouble seemed to follow her around like the plague, but usually it was something any normal girl could handle. Okay so maybe she wasn't so normal but she hardly did anything to deserve this, right?


She ran. She ran and ran 'till it felt like her legs were going to rip out and her lungs were going to burst but not once did she stop. What choice did she have? She could hear it behind her, the beast, nipping at her heels. She could practically feel its hot breath at her neck and it gave her all the more reason to run. She didn't know what it was that she had done exactly to piss off such a creature, this mixed hybrid of what looked like a wolf and a bear. All she knew was that it was mad. When she had first happened upon this forest it had appeared nearly instantaneously. Snarling from the bushes behind her, dragging its claws in the dirt in anticipation, it hadn't given her much of a warning before it pounced at her. And as startled at its appearance as she was, she still had enough wits about her to not freeze and instead turned to run for her life. So here she was, still running.

Her bare feet pounded into the earth with each desperate step she took. She was doing her best to avoid bumps and tree roots alike, but seeing as how it was mostly adrenaline keeping her moving she found herself tripping more and more. Stumbling on a particularly prominent root, she nearly fell on her front, just barely keeping to her feet as she was now leaning on all fours. Seeing this opening, the beast put on a burst of speed and while the girl was faltering to get to her feet it swiped at her, just grazing her shoulder. With a cry the girl was pushed forward with the momentum of the beast's paw, but she used it to her advantage, once again running ahead of the brute, ignoring the sting of her shoulder. It gave a displeased yowl, obviously not liking its prey having slipped by it as it ran in pursuit.

Now as scared as the girl was, somewhere in the very back of her mind she was shaking her head at her whole situation. Here she was, a young girl of just nineteen, running through the woods like a mad women with some sort of foul creature chasing after her. And to make matters worse she was was practicaly naked too! Okay she wasn't naked technically, but she was close to. All she wore were normal underwear with a tight sports bra over her top, that she silently thanked God for, and a black pair of shorts. The shorts didn't cover much more than her crotch as they were extremely tight and, well, short; they were the kind of shorts a woman might slip under a skirt or something, nothing someone would want to wear by themselves. She silently thanked God again for her short hair, too. Not having to deal with it falling into her face as she ran was pleasing seeing as how if the tree roots did not trip her, the lack of sight from the messy hair in her face just might have. Running with all her might once again she bared the ache of her muscles without her mind internally complaining; she had felt the beast's claws at her back and had no desire to feel them again.

She knew couldn't run for ever but she couldn't just stop either. If the beast was further behind her she may have had a chance to run up a tree, hoping the beast would loose interest in her and leave but it was much too close to her for that. What she really needed right now was a weapon of some sort, something she could defend herself with. Glancing along the tree line around her in false hope of finding something she could use, she nearly stumbled again seeing a very faint light, flickering among the trees directly to her right. Taking her chances she turned sharply towards the light source, cursing as she felt the fur of the beast brush past her, the beast having not expecting her to have turned so abruptly. With a glance over her shoulder she saw that she had given herself a few feet between her and the beast but not much. Turning her head forward once more she realizes that the light is closer but still a good distance away, it not doing her any good as she burst through the trees into a small clearing. It was empty of anything useful and she was about to run straight through to the other side when something caught her eye. Only a few feet away was a heavy branch of some sort, about four feet long, thick enough to be used as a staff, maybe a club. It being her only option so far she dove toward it, rolling and coming up on one knee to face the beast head on, her hands wrapped around the slightly thinner end of the branch.

Swinging it like a baseball bat she hit the beast's jaw mid stride once it came in range, the force flipping it over on its side, rolling before it came to a stop crouching low on its feet. Shaking its head it growled, probably more in annoyance then the pain it felt, before standing fully and staring at the girl. She was on her feet now too and the two slowly circle each other, one waiting to attack while the other waited to defend. Making its move the beast stretched and leap toward her with a mighty roar, fangs and claws bared as it jumped. Catching the beasts open jaw between her makeshift staff, the beast leaned against her on its hind legs, its claws having fallen against the branch as it now pushed a great deal of its weight down on top of her. Now she wasn't exactly the smallest girl in the world, her being quite proud of her height actually, and she did have a decent amount of muscle on her, but even with her arms locked above her head they shook under the heavy burden. Her feet slid backwards against the grass as she took the weight of the creature. Gritting her teeth and digging her toes into the dirt she managed to stop the beast from advancing before she swiftly jerked the club and the beast to the right, throwing it off of her. It rolled again and before it could make it back up to its feet she was beside it, bringing her club down on the back of its neck. It yelped in pain, its legs buckling underneath the weight of her blow. She did this twice more, the third time she was pleased to hear a nasty crunch as she broke the beast's bones. Instantly it went limp, and the panting girl let out a shaky laugh of relief, her arms instantly dropping to her sides as she was much too exhausted.

Giving herself a chance to catch her breath, the girl now took a closer look at the corpse of the beast she had killed, never before seeing such an animal. Larger then a regular wolf but too small and lean for a bear, its muddy pelt gave off a foul smell and its eyes were still open, yellow and unblinking upon its death. She wasn't able to identify the creature but with her life no longer in danger she supposed it wasn't that important. All that mattered was that it was the only one of its kind nearby. Her breathing stilled and but soon nausea was replaced at the back of her throat. Never before had she felt such danger and panic and pure heart wrenching fear. She certainly hadn't killed an animal in such a brutish way before, having gone on the occasional hunting trip with her father when she had been younger had toughened her but not for any thing like that. And though part of her liked how easy it was initially to stop the beast, the bigger part of her was repulsed by the very thought of her actions. Shaking her head and ending her inner conflict, the girl moved to look around the clearing, perhaps for shelter as it had to be near midnight now and she was exhausted but stopped short before she could even move two feet from the corpse. A snap of a twig behind her brought the hairs on the back of her neck standing strait and all she could do was pray that the sound had not come from a second of those beasts. She would not have the strength to face it. Bringing up her club in her hands once again she spun around to meet what lay behind her, and was most shocked to what she found.

There were not any beasts or creatures or anything of the sort but rather people standing behind her. People! How lucky was she, finding them in such a thick forest. But she did not show any relief at the finding of them seeing as most eyed her warily, obviously not having expected to find her standing there. There were about a dozen of them or so, all wearing copious amounts of furs and layers of coats and cloaks. Every one of them was armed, some with great swords and daggers at their hips, a few with great axes and hammers strapped to their backs. Oh what she would have given to have any one of those weapons to use not a minute ago! And as strange as the weapons were, seeing as how such things were certainly not used in today's day and age, the men had something else about them that had to be even stranger, and thats saying something as they all had great tangles of bushy hair and beards. All of them, except for one, was a good head or two shorter then her, the tallest just barely reaching her chin. The only one to match her for height was an old man who was again different from the rest of his pack for he did not wear any furs or leaden with weapons except for a long gnarled looking wooden staff. He wore frayed grey robes, a matching pointed hat on his head and his beard and hair were long and grey too. He was currently leaning against his staff, his eyes twinkled mysteriously and he was obviously trying to hold back a smirk, his face confusing the girl as she closed her mouth, now only just realizing it was hanging open as she stared at the group across from her before putting on a tough face. She had seen enough anomalies today before their appearance and she was tired and wanted nothing more then to go home.

The old man moved around through his group, who were probably still frozen from the surprise of seeing her there if their faces were anything to go by. He walked until he stood before her, closer than where the rest stood but still a good ten feet or so away before he started to opened his mouth to speak. He did not get his chance though as the girl beat him to it. And as she realized her state, being lost in unfamiliar woods, under-dressed, with nothing more then a stick to protect her, she tried to put confidence into her words to try to make it seem like she was even a little bit in control of her situation.

"You lot wouldn't happen to know where the closest town is, do you?"


End file.
